EDITOR'S WATCH
Rabbi Jacobovitz: An Inspiration
To The Detroit Jewish Community
ers and volunteers for a variety of Jew-
ish learning experiences.
A Tel Aviv native who has lived in
the U.S. for 28 years, Rabbi J is wide-
ly respected for spanning the streams
of Judaism to help bind us as a people.
He's as comfortable chaperoning
eople relate to people. In
Reform, Conservative and
Rabbi Avraham
unaffiliated college students
Jacobovitz' case, the
on summer sojourns in
relationship is
Israel as he is Orthodox stu-
endearing.
dents.
His magnetism is a
So it was no surprise to
byproduct of an engaging
see 600 people flock to a
personality, insightful ideals
Southfield hotel last week to
and hope-filled message. A
honor Machon L'Torah's 18
match intellectually for any-
years of achievement under
one, he nonetheless thrives
the stewardship of Rabbi J
amid the common folk, who
and his wife Bayla, a popu-
ROB ERT A.
affectionately call him Rabbi
lar instructor in her own
J.
SKL AR
right.
The founding director of
Ed itor
The highlight of the
Oak Park-based Machon
evening was a stunningly
L'Torah, the Jewish Learning
moving original video presentation
Network of Michigan (JLNM), Rabbi
honoring Machon L'Torah's "Heroes
J has projected his heart and soul into
of Survival and Revival." In the 18th-
the fiber of the Detroit Jewish com-
anniversary journal, Rabbi J described
munity.
the honorees as "an elite group of
For 18 years, Machon L'Torah "has
extraordinary people who have put
battled for the life of the Jewish peo-
their interests of the Jewish people
ple, focusing its efforts primarily on
ahead of their needs and aspirations."
the college campuses," said Stuart
The "heroes of survival" have over-
Snider, chairman of the JLNM's 18th-
come the despair of the Holocaust:
anniversary journal.
Alex Kuhn, Martin Lowenberg,
Machon LTorah (which translates
Emanuel Mittelman, Esther Posner,
to "Foundation for the Torah") sprout-
Helen Sandel and Lillian Schwartz.
ed from seed money donated by a
The "heroes of revival" have overcome
Holocaust survivor. It has never
today's spiritual challenges: David. and
wavered from fighting indifference
Marci Beneson, Dr. Edward and
and ignorance among Jews. Its success
Karen Hurvitz, Stuart and Marci
is tied to its ability to mobilize teach-
"Ifyou should neglect the study of Torah,
you will come upon many excuses to
neglect it. But if you labor in the Torah,
God has ample reward to give you."
—Pirket Avot, Ethics of the Fathers
p
Anyway, thank you to all those mak-
ing the event possible. I hope it hap-
pens more often.
Rabbi Reuven Schwartz
Oak Park
Professor Bashes
Chabad — Again
Veteran Chabad-basher Professor Zvi
Gitelman is at it again!
He disagrees ("Baal Shem Tov Is
Documented" June 19) with the state-
ment. that the "fears of misnagdim
(opponents to Chasidism 200 years
ago) were not borne out by history."
Au contraire, opines our learned profes-
sor; their fears were justified. He pro-
ceeds to quote some outlandish state-
ments and ads by an aberrant "Mes-
sianist" group.
Gitelman kvells at the freak sideshow
of the Messianists — which he uses to
divert attention from the colossal, glob-
al, 300-year impact of Chasidism, of
Lubavitch and of the Rebbe upon soci-
ety in general and the Jewish world in
particular.
Casting scholarship and authenticity
to the winds, Dr. Gitelman convenient-
ly forgets to mention that the "full-page
ad in the New York Times" did not
carry the name "Lubavitch" and was
placed by unauthorized individuals.
This unintellectual bias is highly
undignified for a respected academi-
cian. Yet it is hardly surprising. This is
same person who accused the Rebbe
zatzal of instigating Israel's 1983 war in
Lebanon! In his own opus magnum on
the history of Soviet Jewry, Gitelman
borrows from the history-rewriting
techniques of the very communists he
He said it's no longer enough to
Lebenbom, Josh Opperer, and Mark
attend lunch-and-learns. "You also
and Renee Phillips.
must bring a friend or a sponsor."
Wrote Rabbi J: "In their uncompro-
He said it's no longer enough to
mising resolve to keep their faith, they
respond to rabbi-
have shown true
identified needs.
heroism. Their persis-
"You also must be
tence in rebuilding
proactive in service."
their own lives and
And he dared the
their communities,
audience to confront
their commitment
new frontiers of
not to succumb, is
communal service:
truly super human."
"Now is the time to
Opperer, a Hillel
do what is truly
Day School of Met-
ambitious."
ropolitan Detroit
Snider character-
graduate and a Jew-
ized
the evening as
ish Federation of
"a tribute to the liv-
Metropolitan
ing vitality of the
Detroit Young Adult
Jewish people and a
Division executive
celebration of its
board member,
eternal strength and
spoke at the banquet
value."
on behalf of all the
But it was left to
heroes in thanking
Rabbi Avraham Jacobovitz: He
Rabbi J to put the
Rabbi J and Machon bridges the streams of Judaism.
tribute and celebra-
L'Torah "for always
tion in perspective.
being there."
Looking beyond the joy of the
Rabbi J told the audience that
moment, he issued a public call for
Machon L'Torah's 18th anniversary
"hope, renewal and commitment to
was "truly a special time" — "a com-
rebuild the ruins, to rekindle the light,
ing to maturity" and a looking ahead
and to nurture the souls of a genera-
to "development and growth."
tion of young Jews who are thirstily
Rabbi Steven Ettinger, an associate
awaiting for direction and meaning in
of Rabbi J, said the 18th year marks
their lives."
the traditional start of higher educa-
tion — "when you are deemed to have
the judgment to.strive, thrive and
grow."
He then posed a series of challenges
on Machon ETorah's behalf.
--
describes and omits any mention of the
role Lubavitch played in preserving
Yiddishkeit in Russia — when it was
Lubavitch who wrote the book on reli-
gious resistance in the former USSR.
The prestige of the University of
Michigan is ill served by such shallow,
spite-driven writing.
Rabbi Yitschak M. Kagan
Associate director
Lubavitch Foundation of Michigan
Is Solidarity
The Watchword?
There was a time when editorials in
The Jewish News reflected the thoughts
and sentiments of the Jewish commu-
nity..
There was a time when Anglo-Jew-
ish newspapers took their cue — on
Israel and international Jewish concerns
— from authoritative national Jewish
organizations and from pro-Israel
sources.
In those days, "solidarity" with the
government and people of Israel was
the overriding theme of American Jew-
ish concerns.
Today, "solidarity" has become an
anachronism and "dissent" a dubious
hallmark of journalistic "indepen-
dence."
The Jewish News' une 26 editorial
comment, "It's time to stop Talkin'
Trash," is a case in point.
The Israeli cabinet and the mayor of
Jerusalem have endorsed a tentative
plan to bring a number of localities
adjoining Jerusalem under the capital
city's municipal jurisdiction. (The Jewish
News editorialist — tactlessly and erro-
neously — referred to these localities as
7/3
1998
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